Cowgar Family Adventures

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Back in the Swing of Things

Sunday we met with Nana and Papaw in Marietta and picked up Lexi and Lilly! They were very excited to see us, and they love their room. We have Dora wall clings, and glow in the dark planets, moons, and stars. They also have pink curtains now, and a pink see-through curtain on their closet, so now they like to hide in the closet.

We got the living room painted and have some pictures hung up. We still need to finish organizing the dining room and hang more pictures, but most importantly we need to paint a bunch of frames so we don't have a bunch of mis-matched wood like we do right now. My goal is to start getting the house into a nice enough look that we could put it on the market on a moments notice. I would love to move out and go build on the land, but the economy is just too crappy right now. I want to be ready, so when the market starts to turn, we can make a move!

Luke's knees are doing much better. He is down to half a tablet on the prednisone, and his knees aren't nearly as swollen and puffy as they were when we started this adventure.

So now we are back to normal. The house is full of noise and chaos. I've had Kendra this week to babysit, and looks like I may get Kaden on Friday. The house just feels empty and weird when it's so quiet. My nerves may be fried everyday, but I wouldn't want it any other way right now!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

A Quiet House...

Yesterday we made the trek to Marietta to meet Nana and Papaw at Applebee's. We had a nice lunch and then Lexi and Lilly went with them to West Virginia. They will stay down there until Sunday, when we will meet half-way and pick them up. So far they are having a blast, playing in the snow. Lilly tells me Hi on the phone, but Lexi just listens to me and doesn't really talk. I miss them. At least I still have Avery to cuddle and make me feel like a Mom still.

Socks went to West Virginia as well, so she can be an outside cat with Callie. She will have to adjust a bit since there is still so much snow, but I know once she is familiar with her surroundings, she will love being on the prowl outside. Inside a house in the city just doesn't seem to fit her needs, so I'm sure she will be happier down there.

We've been working on the house a bit since they are gone. We are touching up the girls' room, and we have some Dora and star wall clings to decorate with. We are also going to re-paint the living room and paint a bunch of frames and redecorate the walls a bit. Hopefully we can get everything done, since Luke is still light duty with his leg.

Avery's 2 month checkup was today. She is 25 inches long and 14lbs 13oz. She is growing beautifully, and we all agree that she may be starting to teethe already. She is slobbing a bunch and chewing on her hand, even when she's not hungry. That should be a fun time! I don't think I want to go overdue with a pregnancy anymore. It seems like she is just growing so fast since she cooked a bit longer than Lexi and Lilly did.

Luke is doing well with his leg. He is on prednisone for inflammation, and he seems to be able to move his shoulder better than he has in years, and his knees are doing pretty good. The blood thinners have him a bit weak still, but I'm sure he will adjust soon. He has an appointment on March 1st with a rhuemotologist to diagnose his arthritis, and see how we can manage that for him.

He gets his finger pricked tomorrow to check his coumadin levels in his blood. Other than that, not much else is planned except to keep moving forward with the house.

Friday, February 12, 2010

When it rains...it pours!

We have had a long list of things that have gone wrong already this year, but this week has been extremely stressful...

Luke's leg started swelling at the end of last week. Just a little puffy in his lower right leg. He finally decided to call a doctor about it on Tuesday. (He hasn't seen a doctor since 7th grade). He told them what was going on, and they scheduled an appointment for that day at 4:20pm. They then called about 2ish and said they had some cancellations, and to see if he could come in earlier. We rushed outside to clear the twenty feet of snow off of the car and off he went while I stayed home with the girls.

He calls me awhile later and says they are sending him to the big Cleveland Clinic building in town for an ultrasound of his leg, because the doctor thinks there may be a clot. Sure enough, he calls me afterward and says they found a small one above his calf muscle, so he needs to be on blood thinners. The office was calling the prescription in at Rite-Aid, then he has to go back to the office because they have to show him how to use them...because they are NEEDLES!!! I believe at this point in time, he was running on auto-pilot, and nothing was really sinking in. He is scared to death of needles. He gets to the pharmacy and the total bill $628 for 10 shots! The pharmacist asked him if he would like to call the doctor and see if there are other options, and the only other option is to be admitted to the ER and they could do the shots, and since it would be at a hospital, we could get on a payment plan.

He calls me and tells me this, and there is no way I can have him stay at the ER for a few nights, that is just crazy! I tell him we can charge it on a card, and we will worry about it later. Well Rite-Aid didn't have enough to fill the prescription, so they gave him 4 shots, and said the rest will be in tomorrow, so we can pay for it then. He takes it to the office, and they want him to do it himself so they know that he knows how to administer it. He told me he has no idea how he got through that, but he ended up lying down on the doctor's office floor for awhile because he about passed out.

Apparently, he has arthritis in his knees, which is causing fluid to build up in his knees. Well the fluid constricts blood flow to his legs, which caused his leg to swell and the clot to form. So now he has been doing shots twice a day until Sunday morning. I've been giving them to him, because he just can't handle it himself, and I'm not so sure I'm handling it either, but we are managing. He is also on pills that he will be on for 3 months, and he has to go to the lab today to get his levels checked to make sure his blood isn't too thin. He can't take other medications as of right now, so he is stiff and sore beyond belief. The medication makes him tired, and gives him the chills, and now his belly looks like he is a junky with all the poke holes in it. We are getting ready to make a list of questions he can ask the doctor when he goes for his lab work today, so we'll see what the game plan is to get him better, because right now, he is a zombie. Now I know what single mothers feel like with 4 kids!